from China to Europe

[modron]

Hi everyone,

Im planning a motorcycle trip from China through Southeast Asia, India to Europe. I still have a lot of time (a year or so) but i wanna get it right. I dont know much about motorcycles especially about Chinese ones so im having problem with choosing one for my trip. I want to have a small bike (125cc-250cc) cos they are small and light. Price range is around 5000-10000 RMB.
Im looking for something reliable so the obvious choice would be a Japanese bike but i cant find a good dual sport bike in my price range. I was thinking about Yamaha YBR125G but im a bit worried about the small clearance (18cm).

Looking at Chinese bikes the Shineray 200GY-7 seems to be perfect (clearance, tank, etc.) and if my trip was just around China i would have bought it but i will go abroad and dont know if will be able to find parts if it brakes....

You know more about Chinese bike market so hope you can help me with choosing a good one.
ANY suggestion is welcomed

greetz
jaro

[felix]

Hi modron, welcome to the forum. If i was you i'd be more concerned with reliability than clearance. Forum member tokyokid rode from china to europe on a YBR125 a few years ago, two-up! Have a search you'll find it. For the shineray have a look at this thread, two guys are riding them around SE asia right now, you'll find some good info.
Good luck with the planning and let us know how it goes!

[barnone]

jaro,
Welcome to the forum.
Ambitious undertaking for someone who says he/she doesn't know much about motorcycles. Have you ridden a motorcycle much?
You won't know if you got it right until you finish.
Anyway, you will get a lot of good advice here.
Good luck.

[humanbeing]

Naked
Forget those 125 ie NO good for long distance
"Rural" Honda 150 (7xxx only 威领150 Wuyang / CBX150 Sundiro) is the basic requirment. http://www.56.com/u18/v_NTQ1NTk4NjM.html
-
Dual sport
Forget those 200, they are just bored out machine.
Bike powered by Jialing 223 (md33e clone) can be custom made to ur spec in Chongqing < 7k .

[modron]

Hi felix, Ive found and read that thread about shineray before and website too.... looks like they were having some problems with them. I know that YBR125 would be good and reliable cos 2 ppl rode them from Argentina, through South America, Europe, Asia to Australia and they NEVER had any serious problems with them. Problems that they were riding them on the roads (better or worst) mostly and i wanna take my off road.

barnone I have some riding experience, rode 125cc Bajaj across Latin America. Never had any problems with it so dont know how to fix any engine issues....

humanbeing I dont mind if my bike is boring... for me the purpose of the trip is not riding a bike, its everything else ;) so i will treat my bike as a transportation only. Are Jialing bikes any good?

maybe Japanese engine on a Chinese frame and body? does anyone know if i can find bikes like that somewhere?

[moilami]

I think what you see people using in this forum are good choises. That is Galaxy, Skyteam for sure, Qlink, and Lifan. Enduro all the way for your trip. What will be the biggest issues (regarding the bike) will be how you pack your stuff on the bike and how you manage fuel reserves.

You have a great trip ahead. Just do it.

[humanbeing]

.... mind if my bike is boring... for me the purpose of the trip is not riding a bike, its everything else ;) so i will treat my bike as a transportation only. Are Jialing bikes any good?...

"Rural" model Honda 150 visits Metok (Last county don't had highway access)
http://hongdou.gxnews.com.cn/viewthread-5750687.html

[slabo]

I can't see why the Yamaha 125 not suitable for long distance touring. If you ride it and respect it's limits, meaning you don't ride with the rpm near redline all the time, it should be fine. Do the maintenance according to schedule and it should be ok for a 30k trip to Europe. TokyoKid did that with his wife. That's 33k Km from Shanghai to Berlin.
I've had the same questions about the Shineray VS Yamaha and eventually got the Shineray GY-7. I've put 10k on it so far and no problems so far.
But for a long trip like yours the bike needs some mods before you set off. This is not an exhaustive list, but here's were I would start: 1) Chain, front and rear sprocket. The bike is geared way too low stock, hope you won't have as much truoble as I did trying to get replacements. 2) Seat. It's a really shitty seat, I bought a replacement from Jialing and it's not much better either. Unless you weigh 50kg, you'll find the foam way too soft and it will be painful. 3) Tires. The bike will feel much better with better DS profile tires.
Any bike would be ok for long distance touring, so long as you ride it within it's limits and do the proper maintenance. The Shineray won't be ready out of the box as the Yamaha, but it will take do better off-road, where all the fun is.
Hope this helps.

[humanbeing]

I can't see why the Yamaha 125 not suitable for long distance touring. If you ride it and ...

http://www.motorfans.com.cn/bbs/t_16902853.htm
Lemon ? Answer is in #33

[ChinaV]

The GY7 is so inconsistent, some people seem to have no trouble, while others are having major engine failures during their adventures. I've never liked the GY7, so my vote is for the Yamaha YBR125G. I doubt the GY7 is available for purchase after March 1, 2011 anyway.



One of our members here, Mfpthebronze is/was selling an almost new one.

Cheers!
ChinaV